Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Canadian police investigate allegations of improper searches

A Canadian Press newswire article, via The Globe and Mail, reveals that:

The Edmonton Police Service has launched an investigation into a defence lawyer's complaint that police have done illegal computer searches on him.

Tom Engel revealed recently that 10 police service employees, including civilian staff, have run his name through a confidential database at least 16 times over five year years.

Engel says he learned of the breach through a Freedom of Information and Privacy request. The searches were made through the Canadian Police Intelligence Centre (C-PIC), a national database maintained by the RCMP.